Co-Director and Keynote Speaker at Lausanne, Switzerland International Symposium on the Use of Video in the Professional Development
Assistant Professor Rossella Santagata was both co-director and keynote speaker at the June 23 International Symposium in Lausanne, Switzerland: Use of Video in the Professional Development of Science and Math Teachers. Her keynote address was entitled: "A Multi-Dimensional Framework for Using and Studying Video as a Tool for Teacher Learning."
Abstract
This paper introduces a multidimensional framework for using and studying video as a tool for teacher learning. I first introduce the four dimensions of the framework (i.e., purpose, types, lenses for viewing, and assessment) and then summarize findings from research I have conducted that has used video as a tool for pre-service teachers to learn from the analysis of teaching.
Part I. A Framework for Using and Studying Video as a Tool for Teacher Learning
The framework is intended to guide video users through a set of questions and decisions that will enhance the effectiveness of their use of video for teacher learning. The first dimension relates to the purposes the teacher educator has for the use of video and, more generally, to the perspective on teacher learning s/he embraces. Teacher educators have used video for various purposes. Some educators have used it to improve teacher content knowledge; others to model effective instructional strategies; yet others have used it to discuss equity-based classroom practices. In this symposium we learn about these and additional purposes for using video. Choosing a purpose for using video is the first and most important step that drives all subsequent decisions.
The second dimension of the framework relates to the types of video used. Here, several questions can assist the teacher educator in selecting the appropriate type of video for his/her purposes. First, what should the video capture? A teacher teaching a lesson? A group of students working together? One student being interviewed? This question relates to the kind of teaching/learning situation one wants to portray. Second, how long should the video be? Should it capture an entire classroom lesson or interview? Should it be a shorter clip or series of clips? And should it be edited or unedited? Third, who should the video portray? The teachers participating in the learning experience or other teachers? Students from the same population of students of the participating teachers or any students? Fourth, what kind of teaching should the video portray? Exemplary teaching or ordinary lessons? And should the teacher portrayed be an expert teacher, an average teacher, or a novice?
The third dimension of the framework considers various lenses for viewing video. There is wide agreement that for video to serve as an effective tool for teacher learning, some guidance needs to be provided. A lens for viewing is needed to focus teacher attention to specific elements of teaching and on particular ways of reasoning about teaching (van Es & Sherin, 2002). This paper will discuss viewing lenses used successfully by various research teams (among others, Borko, Jacobs, Eiteljorg, & Pittman, 2008; Franke, Carpenter, Levi, & Fennema 2001; Jacobs, Lamb, & Philipp 2010; Seago, Mumme, & Branca, 2004; Sherin & Han, 2002) and introduce the "Lesson Analysis Framework," a particular lens for analyzing classroom lessons that my colleagues and I have used in our work.
The fourth dimension involves decisions on strategies that can be used to assess teacher learning from video. The assessment of teacher learning needs to be tied to the initial purposes for using video, thus various projects may need different assessments. I review strategies used by both the research teams cited above and others.
Part II. Use of Video and Findings from the "Learning to Learn from Mathematics Teaching" Project
In the second part of the paper I summarize the research design and initial findings of a project that involves the use of video with pre-service teachers: "The Learning to Learn from Mathematics Teaching" project (Santagata & Guarino, 2011). In this project video is used to both model instructional strategies that foster student conceptual understanding of mathematics and to develop reflection and analysis skills that allow teachers to learn from their practice and continue to improve their teaching over time. I use the framework described above to discuss the purposes, the types of video, the lens for viewing, and the assessments adopted in the project. I also share findings from an initial intervention study. This study involved 30 pre-service teachers enrolled in the elementary teacher preparation program at the University of California, Irvine. These pre-service teachers participated in a 10-week long course in which video was used, as described above, to develop lesson analysis skills and instructional strategies for teaching mathematics for understanding.
Pre-service teacher learning was assessed in several ways. Course sessions were videotaped and conversations of two target groups of pre-service teachers were monitored and studied over time. A pre- and post-test video-based task was used to investigate improvements in lesson analysis skills. Finally, teaching practices of participating teachers captured in video clips of their teaching, were compared to teaching practices of a control group.
Findings show that pre-service teachers' ability to analyze teaching improved over time. Specifically, pre-service teachers descriptions of the teaching/learning process portrayed in the video became more detailed and their comments changed from being descriptive or considering different elements of teaching (such as the teacher actions, the content, and student learning) as separate to being more integrated (i.e., considering the relations between teacher actions and student learning of the content). In addition, video clips of teaching strategies revealed significant differences between pre-service teachers who attended the course and the control group. Participating pre-service teachers were observed to implement instructional practices more attentive to student thinking and learning. Specifically, these pre-service teachers probed more deeply into student thinking by asking questions after an initial student response that focused on students' conceptual understanding. Course participants also built on student thinking by encouraging student-to-student talk and using student comments and solutions to guide classroom discourse.
The paper conclusions discuss how the "Learning to Learn from Mathematics Teaching" project might contribute to our understanding of how video can be used in productive ways to enhance teacher learning.
